Anchorage for a boat dock,buoy or the like

ABSTRACT

An anchorage for a boat dock, buoy, or the like, in which a suspended non-buoyant weight is cable-supported at a predetermined point between a fixed anchor on the floor of the harbor and the dock or buoy, for allowing the rise or fall of the dock, buoy or the like with the tide or to compensate for wave undulation, with the minimum degree of lateral movement and without disturbance to the imbedded anchor.

Elmte States Patent [151 3,695,207 Atlas [451 Oct. 3, 1972 [54] ANCHORAGE FOR A BOAT DOCK, 2,875,721 3/1959 Downey ..1 14/219 BUOY OR THE LIKE 3,386,407 6/1968 Mount ..1 14/230 X 72 Inventor: Gerald D. Atlas, 2940 West 2,955,561 10/1960 Andersen ..1 14/230 moral, Chicago, Ill. 60625 P E Mil B h] rimary xaminerton uc er [22] Flled' 1970 Assistant Examiner--F. K. Yee [21] Appl. No.: 64,280 Attorney-Edward C. Threedy 52 us. Cl. ..ll4/206 R, 114/230 [57] ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl "B6311 21/24 An anchorage for a boat dock, buoy, or the like, in Field of Search 4/2 which a suspended non-buoyant weight is cable-supll4/0.5 BD, F, 0.5 T; 9/8 8 ported at a predetermined point between a fixed 254/172, 173 R; 61/465 53-68 anchor on the floor of the harbor and the dock or buoy, for allowing the rise or fall of the dock, buoy or [5 6] References (mad the like with the tide or to compensate for wave undu- UNITED STATES PATENTS lation, with the minimum degree of lateral movement and without disturbance to the imbedded anchor. 2,186,606 l/l940 Hutchinson ..l 14/230 X 3,566,608 3/1971 Ramme ..6l/46.5 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures ANCHORAGE FOR A BOAT DOCK, BUOY OR THE LIKE SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a well-known fact that where a boat dock or buoy or the like is anchored to the bottom of the harbor or basin where the boat dock, buoy or the like is located, in the absence of an arrangement for compensating for the rise and fall of the tide or water level, such boat dock, buoy or the like will be submerged under the water surface and considerable lateral strain transmitted to such dock, buoy or the like.

Furthermore, the constant rise and fall of the water surface under wave action, has a tendency to apply pressure to the anchor on the floor of the harbor or basin, with the result that the anchor may be materially moved or otherwise displaced from its intended fixed position. It is an important object of this invention to provide an anchorage in which a suspended nonbuoyant weight is cable-supported at a predetermined point between the fixed anchor on the floor of the harbor or basin, and the dock or buoy, for allowing and compensating for the rise and fall of the dock or buoy with the tide or under wave action of the water, with the minimum degree of lateral movement or disturbance to the fixed anchor.

This and other objects of the invention are accomplished by the combination and arrangement as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of construction of the anchorage;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional detail view taken through a cable-supported non-buoyant weight;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional detail view taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, but showing a modified form of construction.

While the anchorage shown in the drawings and herein described has been designed for use in connection with a movable floating boat anchorage such as that disclosed in my US. Letters Pat. No. 3,521,588 dated July 21, 1970 (Ser. No. 777,349), the invention may, however, be used with other types of boat docks or buoys requiring an anchor such as herein described.

In the drawings, the boat dock is indicated generally at and has fixed thereto a depending arm 11 which rotatably carries a double-grooved pulley 12-13 operating on the same shaft 14. On the floor 15 of the harbor or water basin where the boat dock or buoy is located, is arranged a fixed anchor 16 of non-buoyant material such as concrete, steel, or a combination thereof. Preferably the fixed anchor 16 carries several steel anchor legs 17 which are driven into the floor of the harbor or basin. A non-buoyant weight 18 preferably of concrete or a mixture of concrete and steel, is suspended at a predetermined point between the double pulleys 12-13 and the fixed anchor 16.

This suspension of the weight 18 I prefer to accomplish by a pair of cables 19 and 20. One end 21 of the cable 19 is fixedly connected as at 22 to the anchor 16 and extends upwardly through a passage 22 formed in the weight 18. From the passage 22' the cable 19 is wound around one of the pulleys 12 or 13 and from thence has its end portion 23 connected as at 24 to the weight 18. The other cable has its end 25 fixedly secured as at 26 to the anchor 16 and extends from the anchor 16 up through a passage 27 around the other of the pulleys 12 or 13 and thence has its end portion 25' fixedly secured as at 28 to the weight 18.

To protect the cables from wear and tear which would otherwise be caused by rubbing of the cables thereagainst, the passages 22' and 27 are conically tapered outwardly and downwardly as shown in the drawing, so as to compensate for wave undulation and the like.

The portions of the cables 19 and 20 extending through the passages 22' and 27 are protected against wear by suitable nylon rings 29 which are fixedly secured at the upper terminals of the passages.

By the foregoing arrangement, upon the rise and fall of the tide, the weight 16 being suspended from the pulleys l2 and 13 by the cables 19 and 20, will wind and unwind from the pulleys, thus to compensate for such rise and fall, thereby avoiding submerging either the dock or buoy, as the case may be, under the water surface. Such an arrangement also diminishes the horizon tal pull which would otherwise be transmitted to the dock or buoy.

The form of invention shown in FIG. 4 is substantially identical to that shown in FIG. 1. Like elements will be referred to by like reference numerals. In FIG. 4, the form of construction includes an outwardly flaring peripheral flange formation 30 on the weight 18, formed of concrete or the like, and providing a cup-like receptacle increasing the weight of the weight 18 and the stability thereof during its movement.

The foregoing construction provides a very effective anchorage for a boat dock, buoy or the like.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An anchorage for a boat dock and the like comprising:

a. a non-buoyant fixed anchor,

b. a non-buoyant circular weight movably suspended between the fixed anchor and the boat dock and providing spaced conically shaped passages extending therethrough,

. means for suspending the weight intermediate the anchor and the dock for movement therebetween,

. said suspending means including a double-grooved pulley carried by said dock between it and said circular weight, and

. a pair of cables each having one end connected tangentially to said weight and extending in opposite directions about said pulley and through certain of said passages in a substantially straight line to a fixed connection to said anchor.

2. An anchorage as defined in claim 1 wherein said circular weight is provided with an outwardly flaring peripheral flange member for stabilizing the horizontal and vertical movement of said weight relative to said fixed anchor. 

1. An anchorage for a boat dock and the like comprising: a. a non-buoyant fixed anchor, b. a non-buoyant circular weight movably suspended between the fixed anchor and the boat dock and providing spaced conically shaped passages extending therethrough, c. means for suspending the weight intermediate the anchor and the dock for movement therebetween, d. said suspending means including a double-grooved pulley carried by said dock between it and said circular weight, and e. a pair of cables each having one end connected tangentially to said weight and extending in opposite directions about said pulley and through certain of said passages in a substantially straight line to a fixed connection to said anchor.
 2. An anchorage as defined in claim 1 wherein said circular weight is provided with an outwardly flaring peripheral flange member for stabilizing the horizontal and vertical movement of said weight relative to said fixed anchor. 